Professing our Faith through Confirmation
Professing our Faith through Confirmation is a Milestone Celebration for 6th graders.
As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.” ~ Colossians 2:6
As baptized children who are “walking wet,” tweens have the marvelous opportunity to put their faith into words as they journey together with mentor adults during their sixth grade year. Studying the scriptures, learning to live out their faith in word and deed, and accepting the challenge of living as faithful disciples provide the foundation for a lifetime of faithfulness to God.
Gifts for Remembrance
The seal of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) marks this milestone faith stone by reminding us that as we join First Presbyterian Church of Nashville, a larger community of faith that extends throughout the world connects us all. Confirmands will receive a a faith stone, a bookmark with their class statement of faith, and a beautiful miniature painting of a cross by a local artist.
Books for the Home
As you celebrate this milestone in your child’s faith journey, here are some books you may want to add to your family library.
For Kids:
- Way To Live: Christian Practices for Teens by Dorothy C. Bass and Don C. Richter
For Parents:
- Leaving Home with Faith: Nurturing the Spiritual Life of our Youth by Elizabeth F. Caldwell
Faith Practices for the Home
Caring Conversations
- Talk with your child about his or her faith. Listen to their questions and “wonder” together about God’s role in our life.
- Share your faith with your child. Be open about what you believe and how you have come into your own understanding or your role in God’s Story and God’s role in your story.
- Help your child put into words what he or she believes about God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit, and his or her mission in the world. During this year, your child will be writing his or her own statement of faith. Be a good listener and helper being careful not to manipulate your child’s words into your beliefs but rather help them give voice to their own beliefs.
Daily Devotions
- Make time in your family schedule to worship together at home. Create a sacred space in your house where your family can gather and worship. Light a candle to invoke the presence of Christ and spend time in prayer as a family.
- Recite the Apostle’s Creed together often and talk about the statements of faith that it proclaims.
- Pray together using the Lord’s Prayer and add your own personal words of Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, and Supplication (ACTS).
- Study together using the catechism questions for this milestone. Look up the scriptures and talk about the way our catechism gives voice to our faith.
Family Traditions
- Make Sunday School and worship attendance a priority in your family schedule. This is the first of a three-year-long Confirmation Journey for your tween that will build a foundation for a lifetime of learning and faithful discipleship.
- Make Sunday School and Worship attendance a priority in your family’s schedule! This is the third and final year of the Confirmation Journey that will build the foundation for a lifetime of faithful discipleship.
Servant Acts
- Participate in the service opportunities that your child’s Confirmation Sunday School class offers. Be an active participant with your child. Walk alongside your child on the journey of faith that begins at the baptismal font and continues for an entire lifetime.
- Model your faith by putting into practice what you believe. Look for opportunities to serve God with your time, your energy, your money, and your gifts.
Professing our Faith: Catechism Connections
Presbyterians have historically professed their faith through their creeds, confessions and catechisms. Belonging to God: A First Catechism provides simple language for parents and children as they profess their faith.
Question 22. Who was sent to be the Messiah?
Answer: God sent Jesus to be the Messiah. Messiah means “anointed one.” The New Testament word for Messiah is Christ. Jesus is called the Christ, because God anointed him to be the Savior who would rescue us from sin and death.
Scripture background: Luke 2:26; Luke 3:22; Luke 2:10-11; Philippians 3:20; Luke 4:18
Question 28. How do we know that Jesus is Lord?
Answer: After he died and was raised from the dead, he appeared to his disciples, both women and men. He revealed himself to them as our living Lord and Savior. Through the Bible, he continues to reveal himself to us today.
Scripture background: John 21:12-14; Luke 24:38-39; I Corinthians 15:3-4; John 20:15-18; Luke 24:44-49; I Corinthians 15:5-8,11
Question 35. What is the church?
Answer: We are the church: the people who believe the good news about Jesus, who are baptized, and who share in the Lord’s Supper. Through these means of grace, the Spirit renews us so that we may serve God in love.
Scripture background: Acts 2:38-47; I Corinthians 12:4-7, 12-13; Ephesians 3:14-19
Faith Development for 9-12 Years Old
These children are on the threshold of adolescence – they are no longer children, but not yet teenagers – they are “tweens.” This is a time they especially need consistent input from significant adults. Their lives and faith are greatly influenced by the expectations of others. Physical sexual development and a newfound interest in the opposite sex may begin to emerge. Hormones make them emotionally volatile and fragile. Children vacillate between the need for dependence and independence. Social relationships are marked by moodiness on the one hand and improved relational and verbal skills on the other. They are beginning to reason and question on a more abstract level. From Vibrant Faith Milestones Ministry
